


TWICE UNIVERSITY AU

by FluffyHyo



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-21
Updated: 2020-04-27
Packaged: 2021-03-01 16:56:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23770441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FluffyHyo/pseuds/FluffyHyo
Summary: Everyone wants a place to belong. That holds true for Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Momo, Sana, Jihyo, Mina, Dahyun, Chaeyoung, and Tzuyu.On that fateful day when they finally meet, their lives changed forever.
Relationships: Im Nayeon/Yoo Jeongyeon, Minatozaki Sana/Park Jisoo | Jihyo, Myoui Mina/Son Chaeyoung
Comments: 1
Kudos: 25





	1. Inner Thoughts

**Author's Note:**

> Notes:
> 
> \- English isn't my first language so if there are any grammatical/structural errors I hope you understand.  
> \- This AU will be slow paced, especially during the first chapter.  
> \- Feedbacks/criticism are most welcome, but please be polite.

Inner dialogue Nayeon  
It’s really hard isn’t it? I never thought it would be easy. I wonder if I’ll be able to make it. I’m seriously scared. She finally has confidence in herself after meeting with the other 8 members to finish her studies perfectly. 

Inner dialogue Jeongyeon  
This isn’t me at all. Why can’t I just say it? I’m going crazy… Slowly but sure becomes more aware of her own feelings and become more open about it. Her tsundere personality slowly fades away.

Inner dialogue Momo  
I have to do better! I have to work harder! This isn’t enough. What if someone else is better than me? Where would that leave me? She finally feels enough and content with her hard work. Ressurments from the other members make her efforts feel rewarded by praise and constructive criticism. 

Inner dialogue Sana  
I’m more than just the Sana they think they know. Why can’t anyone see me for who I really am? All of me. Do they really enjoy putting labels on other people like that? She feels appreciated by the other members for being all the personalities that she is. She no longer is constrained by a certain image other people project to her. 

Inner dialogue Jihyo  
If only things remain the same all the time, things would be a lot easier. Don’t you think so? What if something changes and you don’t like it. Wouldn’t you regret a lot? That’s what I think. If things remain the same, there’s nothing to regret about. Realizes that change is fun and sometimes necessary in order to move forward.

Inner dialogue Mina  
Being alone is fun. It’s just… I want someone to talk to too. Worrying alone isn’t fun. She finally has people to talk to and respect her personal space/private time. 

Inner dialogue Dahyun  
Why do I feel so lonely? It’s always been like this from the beginning. Am I really okay? No, no, no. You have to get yourself together Dahyun. You. Are. Okay. She is no longer lonely again. Her smile is now genuine. 

Inner dialogue Chaeyoung  
Why are so many eyes staring at me like that? This place, I don’t like being here. Why can’t I just be who I really am? In TFC, she is able to become who she is and feel accepted.

Inner dialogue Tzuyu  
I know that it’s impossible for people to understand how someone feels without saying anything, but why is it so hard to let other people how I feel? It just won’t work. Besides I don’t want to be a bother for anyone else… In TFC, she will finally be able to open up about her feelings slowly to her unnies because they make her feel welcome and cared.


	2. TWICE Fashion Club - Part I

“I’ll be fine mom, don’t worry,” Jihyo reassured her mom as she was about to step outside the house with her suitcase. Today she’s finally leaving her house to start living on her own after getting accepted by one of the most prestigious universities in Korea, Twice University. Naturally her mom felt a bit uneasy having her first daughter enter a new stage in life called university.

“Are you sure you brought everything? Skincare? Pajamas? Books? And...” her mom kept on barraging her with questions. She was more frantic than the person actually going to college.

“Mom….” she let out an exasperated sigh. She was already standing by the open door ready to leave at any moment, but her mom was still pestering her with things she already prepared days ago. After all, Jihyo is the type of girl who is always organized and prepared. Seeing her daughter’s irritated face, she stopped her pestering and gave Jihyo one final hug.

“Are you sure you’re okay going by yourself?” her mom slipped in one final concern while hugging her daughter. It seems like she still has worries in her heart about her daughter leaving.

“The university is only an hour bus ride away from here. I’ll be fine,” Jihyo answered tenderly. Although Jihyo was a bit exhausted dealing with her overbearing mother, she also understood that it must be hard to let her go live alone. “I promise I’ll visit often when I can, okay?” she looked straight into her mother’s eyes with a smile. Her mom smiled back and silently nodded.

With a final ‘take care’ from her mother, she finally left home. On the bus, there was a sense of anticipation Jihyo felt. Not only was it going to be a new experience for her entering college, it’s also going to be the first time she’ll live apart from her family. Rules from the university state that “Students of Twice University are obligated to live in dorms provided by the university to create strong and independent individuals ready to be integrated as a part of the society.”

According to the email from the administration, Jihyo will be sharing a room with a girl from Japan named Myoui Mina. From her name alone, she could somehow tell that she’s not your average girl. Her name gave off a kind of elegant feel to it. At least that’s what Jihyo thought. I wonder what kind of girl she is?

As her mind was drifting away, Jihyo noticed someone sitting across from where she was sitting. Her skin was as white as snow and her white hair gave off a peculiar charm. She seemed to not have noticed Jihyo paying attention to her with her eyes looking outside the window and her ears covered with headphones. It was as if she was in her own separate world.

“Is she going to the same uni as me?” Jihyo muttered to herself. It wasn’t every day that she gets to meet someone with a unique vibe to them. Not wanting to stare too much, she decided to look out of the window too. The scenery kept on changing, following the fast pace of the bus moving, occasionally coming to a still when the red light come on. It was a familiar scenery to Jihyo, as she also uses the bus to commute to school. But now it somehow feels different. It felt like things were about to change.

As excited as Jihyo was for her university debut, she was also pretty nervous. Having to live in a new place, meeting unfamiliar faces, and learning something completely new, those things worry her. “If only nothing ever changes,” Jihyo once thought to herself after graduating. But just like the changing scenery on the bus, life changes fast. Before you know it, you’re in a completely different part in life.

Jihyo let out a deep sigh thinking back to those naive thoughts. When she finally came back to her senses, the bus had already arrived at the nearest bus stop to the university. She quickly grabbed all of her stuff - this being only her suitcase and a handbag she brought - and quickly made her way off the bus. The person sitting across from her earlier was already standing at the bus stop, her eyes glued to the screen on her phone still with her headphones on.

It looks like she’s waiting for someone. I better not bother her…

After making sure that she didn’t leave anything on the bus, Jihyo started walking in the direction of the university. It was only a ten minute walk from the bus stop, so it wasn’t much of a problem dragging her heavy suitcase. The problem was after that. Although it was technically still within walking distance from the gates, the dorms were located pretty deep inside the university complex.

It took some time, but she finally arrived at the dorm, her face all sweaty.

“Isn’t the dorm a bit too far from the entrance?” she complained to herself, looking back at the gates that were no longer visible. As soon as she walked through the entrance to the dorm, she was greeted by the front office.

“Is there anything we can help you with?” The lady in the front office politely asked.

“I’m a freshman and… Um...” Jihyo struggled to let the words roll off of her tongue. It’s not often that Jihyo gets tongue tied like this, but because she was a bit clueless too about what to say, she couldn’t finish her sentence. Luckily the front office lady seemed to understand her intent.

“Do you want to check in? May I have your name and major please?”

“Ah, yes! My name is Park Jihyo, majoring architecture.”

The front office lady started typing on her computer to check if Jihyo was on the campus’ database. Jihyo just nervously stood there in front of the desk, awkwardly stealing glances at her surroundings. For a university dorm, it looked pretty fancy. After a while, the front office lady reached for a card from her drawer and gently placed it on a device that was sitting on her table until there was a small ‘beep’ sound.

“Here you go,” the front office lady handed the card to Jihyo. “Your roommate Myoui Mina has already arrived earlier. If there’s anything you would like to ask about the dorm, please feel free to come here and ask. Also, please make sure to follow the dorm rules. There will be penalties for those who break them.”

“Thank you, I’ll keep that in mind,” Jihyo politely bowed to the front office lady and left to her room. Her room was on the second floor in room 238. On her way to her room, she noticed that there were already other freshmans walking around the dorm, most of them in pairs. They seem to be getting along with their roommates quite well.

When Jihyo finally got to her room, she just froze there in front of the door. Should I just enter? No, what if she’s in the middle of something? I guess I should knock first, right? After deliberating by herself, she finally decided to knock.

*Knock, knock, knock*

“Um, it’s me Park Jihyo your roommate. Is it alright if I come in?”

There was a short silence, before finally Jihyo received an answer.

“Sure, please come in,” a soft voice was heard coming from the other side of the door. Using her card pass, Jihyo gently opened the door.

When Jihyo stepped inside the room, she could feel the sweet scent of fresh flowers assault her senses. The room was quite spacious for two people, with a bathroom, a kitchen, and two beds placed across each other with studying tables placed near each end. Sitting in front of one of the tables was Myoui Mina who was apparently in the middle of lego building. She was just like how Jihyo imagined her to be, graceful and elegant with her long hair falling down her shoulder.

As Jihyo entered the room, she stopped building her lego castle and greeted her with a shy smile. “Hello there, I’m Mina. Nice to meet you,” she made a small wave with her hand which Jihyo thought was so cute.

“Nice to meet you Mina-ssi. I’m Jihyo,” she carefully put her suitcase down and offered Mina a handshake. Mina was hesitant at first, but she finally took Jihyo’s hand and shook it.

“Just call me Mina. We’re roommates after all.”

“Okay, call me Jihyo too then!”

After their short introduction, Jihyo started to unpack her luggage. Despite not living too far away from home, she still brought a lot of things in her suitcase just in case. It’s Jihyo’s way of trying to learn to be more independent. Seeing Jihyo unpack, Mina offered to help her out. Jihyo felt bad having her new roommate help her unpack, but she figured that it would be rude to refuse Mina’s kind offer.

While they were stacking her clothes in the drawer, Jihyo resumed their conversation. “When did you get here from Japan? Did you get here this morning?”

“Ah no, actually I arrived yesterday but the administrators wouldn’t allow me to check in to the dorms, so I spent the night at a senpai- I mean sunbae’s room.”

“So you have a sunbae studying here?”

“Yes. They were the reason I decided to study here. They told me that Twice University had the best majors and facilities. What about you Jihyo, why did you decide to study here?” Mina started to feel more comfortable conversing with Jihyo and decided to take the initiative to in turn ask Jihyo a question.

“Mmm… I guess because of my neighbor? He happens to be the owner of the university, so he asked me to enroll here.” Jihyo answered casually, after trying to recall the reason why she decided to enroll in Twice University. In truth she could have entered any university with her high grades.

“Eeeh? So that’s the only reason? More importantly, you know someone as important as the owner?” Mina was completely surprised but it was to be expected. It’s not something common to be neighbors with someone owning a whole private university. Not to mention a university at the level of Twice University.

“Yup, that’s the only reason. But he’s really just like any other middle aged man, Mina. Though he is a pretty nice person.”

As much as Mina wanted to believe Jihyo, she still found it hard to believe that the owner of the university is just like any other middle aged man. If that were true, wouldn’t there be more private university owners in Korea? In her innocent mind Mina imagined him to be a toned, handsome man wearing a suit wherever he goes. That’s how owners of private property usually are, right?

It took them a while to unpack all of Jihyo’s belongings, but after over an hour short they finally managed to put all her stuff in their places. They continued talking, until a growling sound coming from Mina’s stomach interrupted their conversation.

“Looks like someone is hungry,” Jihyo laughed at the funny moment that just happened. She never thought that she would hear Mina’s stomach growl. Mina just shyly nodded, holding her embarrassment.

“There’s nothing to be ashamed of Mina. My stomach growls all the time too when it’s hungry,” Jihyo lightly patted her own stomach. “Do you have anything in the fridge?”

“I bought some things earlier from the supermarket, but—”

“Perfect! We can cook something together!” Jihyo enthusiastically opened the fridge to see what Mina bought that could be used to make lunch. She scanned the whole fridge from top to bottom. There was chicken meat, all sorts of vegetables, and tofu. That should be enough to make something.

“Jihyo, can you cook?”

“Cook?” Jihyo looked perplexed by the question. When she suggested that they cook together, she was assuming that she would only help wash the vegetables and cut whatever needed cutting, but cooking a whole meal? The last time she cooked something, her mom banned her from touching anything in the kitchen. But she didn’t want to look ridiculous in front of her new friend, so she confidently continued, “...O-of course I can! You can too right?”

This time it was Mina who was caught off guard by the question. “Um, y-yes.” she replied shortly, looking a bit anxious.

With Mina’s answer, Jihyo took out all of the ingredients from the fridge and placed them on the kitchen table. She also took out all the cooking utensils from the kitchen and proudly declared, “We’re going to make a delicious meal!”

30 minutes later...

“I’m sorry Mina…” Jihyo said with a wry smile as she scrubbed the burnt black pot. The whole kitchen was a mess. In fact, the whole room was a mess because of the disaster that happened in the kitchen. The window was now open to let out the smoke out of their room. The fresh scent of flowers were now overridden by the smell of burnt food. “I should have been honest with you. I can’t really cook.”

“Me too,” Mina apologized too while cleaning the mess on the table with a wet cloth. There was spilt food and sauces everywhere. “I can’t cook too well. I’m sorry.”

Both of them stopped what they were doing and looked at each other for a moment, smiled, and then bursted into laughter. They both wanted to give a good impression to the other person, but they ended up almost burning the kitchen on their first day living together as roommates. It didn’t matter if one of them couldn’t cook because it turns out both of them can’t.

“I feel a lot better knowing that you’re bad at cooking Mina,” Jihyo said in relief. She was still aggressively scrubbing the burnt pot that didn’t seem to be returning to its initial state no matter how hard Jihyo was scrubbing.

“That’s a bit mean,” she pouted, pretending to be angry at Jihyo. Actually Mina was also relieved that her roommate couldn’t cook. Although it would have been more convenient if Jihyo could cook, she would feel too bad for letting her roommate cook for her all the time.

“Should we grab something to eat after this? It’s my treat for helping unpack earlier.” Jihyo offered the pouting Mina. Hearing her offer, like a child being offered a candy, Mina broke into a smile and nodded happily.

They continued for another half an hour to make sure the room was sparkling clean and was free from the smell of smoke. Jihyo eventually gave up scrubbing their burnt pot and decided to buy a new one later. It has been an eventful first meeting, but a first meeting that they will both remember for many years to come.

***

Jihyo and Mina arrived back from their lunch late in the evening. After they finished eating their lunch at the cafeteria, they decided to take a little walk around the campus. There were still many places that they weren’t familiar with. Jihyo herself hasn’t seen the whole campus yet, so she took her time to look around with Mina.

As soon as they got back to their room, Jihyo threw herself on the bed. She was spent after walking around the whole campus. It’s been a while since she walked that much. While Mina went to her chair and just sat there quietly in front of her study table, restarting her lego building that was almost finished.

“Hey Mina, I forgot to ask earlier. What are you majoring at?” Talking about various things with Mina, Jihyo forgot to ask the most obvious question. She just remembered while lying in bed and was curious what kind of major someone like Mina would choose.

“I’m majoring dance. You?” her eyes were still focused on her lego. It looked like nothing could break her concentration and focus.

“I’m majoring architecture. Though I only picked it because my dad studied architecture. I just thought that it would be nice if I studied the same thing. But I do have goals I want to achieve.”

“Isn’t architecture hard?”

Jihyo paused for a moment before answering her. “I guess so.” She then sat herself up. “Maybe I should do a little bit of studying before classes tomorrow.” Jihyo got off of her bed and went straight to her studying table. But before she could start her studying, there was a loud continuous knock on the door.

“Who could it be at this hour?” Jihyo grumbled as she lazily made her way to the door. The moment she opened the door, the two people who were waiting outside rushed inside without waiting for the person who opened the door to let them in. They were treating this place completely like their own without shame.

“Hey, hey, Nayeon unnie, Jeongyeon unnie, you can’t just barge in like that!” Realizing the two people who just barged in, she called out their names. It was Im Nayeon and Yoo Jeongyeon, her seniors back in high school and also her life long friends since they met in primary school.

“Excuse us Jihyo’s roommate,” Nayeon and Jeongyeon politely greeted Mina who was surprised by the sudden appearance of the two seniors, completely ignoring Jihyo who called out to them in displeasure.

“Good evening sunbae-nim,” Mina awkwardly greeted them back. She wanted to pretend that it was none of her business. After all they were Jihyo’s friends, but since she just finished her lego castle, she was out of ideas on how to retreat to her own little bubble.

“You don’t need to be too formal with us. Since you’re Jihyo’s friend, that means we’re your unnies. I’m Nayeon the pretty one and the ugly one here is Jeongyeon.” Nayeon shamelessly introduced herself.

“Huh? Who are you calling ugly? Aren’t you supposed to be the ugly one?” Jeongyeon snapped at Nayeon.

“Can’t you see how pretty I am? Do you need glasses already?” Nayeon snapped back.

“Unnie, please cut it out. You’re scaring Mina,” Jihyo appeared behind the two of them with her hands on her hips. Even though she’s used to the chaotic duo in front of her, she’s afraid that her two unnies might scare Mina off. And it took her awhile too to get Mina to open up and be comfortable with her.

“Are we? I can understand if she’s scared of Jeongyeon, but how can she be scared of someone as pretty and as harmless as me?” Nayeon asked, genuinely surprised by what Jihyo said. She exchanged confused glances between Jihyo and Mina.

“I would be terrified too if I met someone crazy.” Jeongyeon cooly retorted.

“Ya! Are you saying I’m crazy? Is that how you treat your unnie?” she quickly turned her attention and hit Jeongyeon who was giggling happily. The person getting hit didn’t stop laughing. Instead she taunted her even more. “See? She’s crazy and also violent!”

“Unnie, can you please stop? Why are you even here in the first place?” Jihyo started massaging her own temple in frustration. There was no way these two would just listen quietly. Jihyo took a glance at Mina who seemed to be as stiff as a log. Figures...

“Ah I almost forgot! I wanted to invite you to a meeting.”

“I refuse.” Jihyo gave an instant response.

“You haven’t even heard what it’s about yet!” Nayeon half yelled, looking devastated by Jihyo’s instant response to her invitation. She looked at Jeongyeon asking for support,

“Jeongyeon…” But she was completely ignored by her. This girl…

“If it’s you, it’s definitely going to be something sketchy. I don’t want to be involved with something bad on my first day of college.” Jihyo voiced out her reason.

“Why are you already assuming that it’s something bad!?”

“Jihyo has a point. Nothing you come up with ever ends up well Nayeon unnie.” Jeongyeon concurred. It turns out Jeongyeon also had no idea what the meeting was about.

“That’s rude! When did I ever come up with anything bad?”

“In elementary school, you thought it was a good idea to prank the principle because you didn’t like him.” Jeongyeon started listing, recalling all the bad ideas Nayeon came up with in the past.

“...Come on, we were kids. You also thought that the principle was annoying…”

“Or during junior high when you thought that it would be a smart idea to set the school on fire to test the school safety, getting us suspended.” Jihyo continued.

“I… You know I was just trying to make sure you know!”

“Or during high school, when you—” Jeongyeon continued, trying to mention the latest and most embarrassing idea Nayeon came up with. But before Jeongyeon could mention what it was, Nayeon aggressively interrupted.

“—Okay, okay, that’s enough!” Nayeon quickly stopped Jeongyeon from saying any further. It was clearly something so embarrassing to mention that she had to stop Jeongyeon mid sentence. Especially because there was Mina too in the room. “Fine, I used to come up with bad ideas, but this time it’s different. Please hear me out.”

Jihyo and Jeongyeon looked at each other still looking unsure.

“Um, I think we should hear her out Jihyo, Jeongyeon unnie. Nayeon unnie looks pretty serious.” Surprisingly it was Mina who has been quiet for some time that tried to defend Nayeon. Perhaps it’s exactly because she’s Mina that she’s able to defend her.

“Okay, I’ll hear you out but only because Mina asked.” Jihyo finally conceded.

With a smug smile on her face Nayeon proudly declared, “I want to make a fashion club!”

“You gotta be kidding me?...” Jihyo let out a deep sigh.

“That actually sounds like fun,” Mina softly commented. From the look in her eyes, she seems genuinely excited.

“See? Mina understands. All three of you will be the first members!”

“Wait, me too?” Jeongyeon protested.

“Of course! The club wouldn’t be complete without you.” Nayeon answered, as if it was a matter of fact. Jeongyeon awkwardly gave an ‘okay’ and turned away, trying to hide her cheeks that were slightly turning red. Luckily for her nobody noticed.

“A club, huh…” Mina quietly muttered to herself. She had a small smile on her face, imagining herself joining a club with other people.

“Nayeon unnie, why do you even want to make a fashion club anyway?”

“Just because. Don’t you think it would be fun?”

“I guess so,” Jihyo somewhat agreed. From the beginning, she did plan on joining a club to fill in her days, but she never expected that she’d be making a club altogether. Although Nayeon usually comes up with bad ideas, surprisingly this is her best idea yet. Maybe because she’s grown more mature?

Despite scepticism at first, especially from Jihyo and Jeongyeon, all the girls present in the room agreed to be a part of the club and to come to their first club meeting tomorrow. Nayeon reassured them that they won’t be the only members because she has other people in mind she wants to ask join the club.

“All this talk is making me hungry,” Jeongyeon suddenly expressed her hunger.

“I can cook dinner for you guys,” Nayeon offered happily. She looked confident, but the two people who knew her well didn’t look confident. Mina was also a bit worried, remembering what happened earlier with Jihyo. “Don’t look at me like that. I can cook now.”

Nayeon headed to the kitchen and opened the fridge. “There aren’t much ingredients here, but I can come up with something good.” She carefully took out the leftover ingredients and put them on the table. Jihyo and Jeongyeon both looked at each other, worried about the outcome but in the end they decided to trust their unnie. Who knows she’s gotten better at cooking over the years?

It turns out it was a bad decision.

Although many things changed throughout the years, Nayeon’s cooking was definitely not one of them. Despite her confidence, in the end, all of them spent the whole evening cleaning the kitchen — for the second time today — while waiting for their food they eventually decided to order.

_I should have known._


	3. TWICE Fashion Club - Part II

“I’m going crazy,” Jihyo let out a deep sigh as she put her thick textbooks inside of her bag. She was overwhelmed by the amount of things she needed to study. 

It was her first day attending classes, but apparently her professor didn’t hold back. He went straight to real life study cases. According to her professor, it’s the best way for them to understand the work they’ll be doing, but at this point of the semester, there was no way it would be helpful. 

She did hear rumors from her sunbaes that her professor is an odd one, but she never expected this. Even the diligent Jihyo who prepared the night before couldn’t keep up. _I wonder what would have happened to me today if I didn’t drive out Nayeon unnie and Jeongyeon unnie out of my room last night._

\- - - 

Last night after dinner, Nayeon and Jeongyeon insisted on playing games together in her room. 

“Come on Jihyo, we haven’t played together in so long~” Nayeon clinged on to Jihyo. Her being the oldest among the others didn’t really mean that she would act her age. From the way she acts, Jihyo and Jeongyeon were convinced that she was actually a kid trapped in an adult body. 

“Nayeon unnie, I’m a freshman. I need to prepare for tomorrow,” Jihyo tried to reason with her while slowly getting away from her unnie. It wasn’t that she was against playing with her unnies, it’s just that she didn’t want to slack off at the beginning of the semester. Especially because she heard that architecture was a hard major. 

“But didn’t you get accepted as the top student?” Jeongyeon commented. 

“Whoa, she did!?” Nayeon turned to Jeongyeon in surprise. 

“You didn’t even know about that? Ah, what a clueless unnie you are, aish.”

“N-nobody told me!” Nayeon was trying hard to find an excuse, but she wasn’t able to find any. But suddenly realizing something, her face broke into huge smile and turned to Jihyo. “If you’re the top student, doesn’t that mean you don’t need to study?”

“Exactly because I’m the top student I need to study unnie,” Jihyo started taking out her books from her suitcase unbothered. There were a total of 3 huge books with various titles in front of them, all related to architecture. “Please go unnie.”

“Ah, you’re no fun Jihyo.”

“Come on let’s head back.” Jeongyeon grabbed Nayeon’s arm and slowly dragger her to the door. She knew that it would be a bad idea to bother Jihyo in the middle of her studies.”Besides, we’ll still see each other tomorrow.” 

“You better come tomorrow Jihyo!” she half yelled from the door at the girl who was now absorbed in her architecture textbook. “Ah and Mina, please come tomorrow okay?” using a soft tone, she made sure not to forget inviting Mina. 

With a shy smile on her face, Mina just nodded.

“I’ll text you guys the place tomorrow! Look forward to it!” 

And with Jeongyeon dragging Nayeon outside, the night ended.

\- - -

Just remembering what happened last night made Jihyo chuckle. She did feel bad for having to drive out her unnie, but if she didn’t, she probably wouldn’t have been able to get out of class sane.

_All the thinking in class made me thirsty._

Wanting to drink something sweet and fresh, she decided to head over to the cafeteria. Yesterday when she went to the cafeteria with Mina, there were various drinks she could choose. Luckily her favorite drink was being sold in the cafeteria. 

Fast paced, she made her way straight to the cafeteria. The only thing that was on her mind right now was tomato juice. It wasn’t something that people she knew liked, but for some reason she enjoyed it so much ever since she was a kid. She also believed that drinking tomato juice was good for her skin, so it added more reasons for her to like drinking it. 

Her head being fully occupied by tomato juice, she didn’t realize that someone was walking in her direction with a pace as fast as hers. 

“Ah!”

Papers flew into the air and scattered all over the floor. In a panic, Jihyo quickly crouched down to gather the fallen papers while frantically apologizing, “I’m really sorry!” 

The other person followed Jihyo collecting the scattered papers, while also apologizing for not paying attention. It seems like she was equally as distracted as Jihyo. When they finally had all of the papers in hand, they lifted their heads only for their eyes to lock on each other. It felt like time stopped at that very moment. 

_She’s really pretty._

“Pretty...” the girl murmured, a bit too loud for Jihyo to hear. Realizing that she was saying her thoughts out loud, instead of getting flustered, she just smiled, leaving Jihyo speechless. When Jihyo finally came to her senses, she quickly handed over the papers and time suddenly time started flowing again. 

“I’m really sorry, I wasn’t paying attention,” Jihyo bowed and apologized again. 

“I’m sorry, it was my fault too. I wasn’t really paying attention either,” the girl just smiled, trying to not make too much of a deal of it. After she apologized, she took a quick glance at her watch. “I’m sorry, but I have to get going. See you some other time.”

The girl bowed again and left with her smile etched in Jihyo’s memory. 

_What… just happened?_

Jihyo was sure to be late, so she sent a quick text to Nayeon. For Jihyo, her tomato juice took priority over meeting her unnie. After shooting Nayeon a text, she continued her walk to the cafeteria with high anticipation for her tomato juice. This time making sure that she doesn’t bump into anyone else. 

***

“This should be the room right?” Jihyo muttered to herself, looking at the room number placate hanging above the door while also checking the text Nayeon sent her to see if it matched. There was no mistaking it, the room number was definitely the one Nayeon sent her.

She knocked on the door cautiously and opened the door slowly. The moment she stepped inside the room Nayeon was the first to nag her. 

“Where have you been? You’re late!”

“Nayeon unnie, I already said I was going to be late earlier.”

“But I never said it was okay, you know!”

Jihyo sighed and decided to ignore her unreasonable unnie. She was surprised to see that there were more members than she expected. _Nayeon unnie did mention that she’d bring in more people._ Other than her roommate Mina and her unnie Jeongyeon, there were also two other people in the room. One of them looking familiar.

“Ah, aren’t you the pretty girl from earlier!” one of the girls stood up from the couch and pointed at Jihyo. It was her that noticed Jihyo first before she could say anything. Saying it out loud, everyone turned their heads towards Jihyo.

Nayeon who was surprised by the girl’s reaction asked the her, “You know Jihyo?”

“Hum.” She nodded. “I met her earlier near the cafeteria. I sort of bumped into her while I was heading here,” the girl explained. The other girl Jihyo didn’t recognize commented, “You’re always so clumsy, Sana.”

“I don’t want to hear that from you, Momo!” Sana retorted. 

“Between you and me, you’re definitely clumsier.”

“Oh, says someone who fell asleep eating her chocolate.” 

From their interaction, Jihyo could sense that they had a strong relationship like her relationship with her two unnies. 

Seeing the two girls fight, Mina came in and stood between them to break them off. “Umm.. They are the two sunbaes that I talked about yesterday,” introduced Mina spontaneously, a bit embarrassed with her unnies. “This is Sana senpai, I guess you met her earlier, and this is Momo senpai. Although I guess I call them unnie here.”

_Ah, so they must be from Japan too..._

Jihyo bowed her head politely at the two of them. “Nice to meet you Sana sunbae, Momo sunbae.” Suddenly being bowed to, both of them stopped their bickering and bowed in return. “It feels weird using honorifics. Just call me Momo,” Momo insisted. “Me too, me too! Just call me Sana! Oh, or you can call me Sana-chan hehe.” Sana gleefully suggested.

“Okay then, Momo, Sana-chan…” for some reason Jihyo felt a bit embarrassed calling them their names without honorifics. It was probably because she still wasn’t used to it yet.

After their short introduction, Nayeon gathered all of the members for an important announcement she was about to make. 

“Now that everyone is here, I have a huge announcement to make!” Nayeon stood in front of the others, with a proud smile on her face. “We’re going to make this club official!”

There was on odd silence after Nayeon made her announcement.

“Does that mean we’re illegal now?” Momo innocently asked, breaking the silence.

“Uhh...” Nayeon seemed confused to how she should answer Momo’s question. Technically their club wasn’t illegal, but it also wasn’t legal either. With a light cough, she continued, “I’ve already got permission from the student activity board to make a club, but…”

The other members looked at Nayeon intently, waiting for her to continue her sentence. Even Jeongyeon was on her seat waiting for Nayeon to finish. “...but we need more members,” said Nayeon sheepishly.

According to the student activity board, a club should at least have 10 members to be acknowledged officially. Of course, students are free to gather and make their own ‘clubs’ with less than 10 members, but they won’t be able to enjoy the perks of being acknowledged by the campus; getting club funds, student points, and a club room. 

“Unnie, you said we’re not official yet. But how come do we have a club room already?” Jihyo pointed out. She did feel that it was strange that they were meeting up in such a nice place even though they just formed the club. 

“I… I did a bit of negotiating, ha ha ha.” Nayeon answered, unconvincingly. The others seemed to be curious as well. From its lavish furniture and interior design, there was no way this was a normal club room. Especially not a club room for a newly established club that lacked members. The club room was also spacious, a bit too spacious for a club room.

“Do you mean, gamble?” Jeongyeon chuckled, seeming to know what went on behind the scenes. She laughed at Nayeon for getting flustered after mentioning it. Teasing Nayeon was Jeongyeon’s favorite thing to do after all. 

“I did it for our club you know! And don’t call it gambling, it was pure negotiation.” 

“You gambled unnie!?” Momo was surprised. The other members were equally surprised. Mina who was again busy on her phone also paused in shock. But the one who looked the most surprised was Jihyo. 

“Unnie I can’t believe you…” Jihyo couldn’t believe her ears. She clenched her fists, trying to get a hold of her emotions. “How could you not invite me!? You’re always like that unnie. You never invite me for things like that anymore!” 

“Eeeh?” Sana was confused by Jihyo’s unexpected comment. She didn’t expect Jihyo to get upset for a completely different reason. 

“It’s not like that Jihyo. We did it over the break before you came, so how were we supposed to invite you?” Jeongyeon explained, trying to calm down the riled up Jihyo. For Jihyo, it still sounded like a lame excuse.

“Wait, so you guys gamble?” Sana asked, still not understanding what was going on. 

With a smug face, Nayeon folded her arms with her chin slightly tilted up. “Back in middle school, we were a really famous gamble– I mean, play group called 3MIX. We’ve never lost a single game against anyone at any game.”

“She definitely said gamble did she?...” Sana whispered to Mina who was sitting next to her. Mina just nodded quietly with a wry smile. 

“Who did you gamble with to get this room unnie?” Momo asked. All she was sure of was that whoever owned this room before must have been a really prestigious club. 

“It was the poker club.” Nayeon nonchalantly answered.

“You won against the poker club!?” Momo was shouting this time. 

“There’s a club like that?” Sana was still clueless, completely being left out of the conversation. 

“Why are you acting cool like that? We would have lost if it weren’t for me.”

“Jeongyeon unnie, you know that Nayeon unnie is the worst when it comes to poker!” Jihyo whined, still upset that she wasn’t invited. Her pride as the 3MIX poker specialist was hurt. 

“It’s fine, it’s fine. We won anyway.” 

“Isn’t our university’s poker team really strong?” Mina chimed in to the conversation after listening silently. Although she was a freshman, TWICE university’s poker team was pretty famous, even among people that weren’t familiar with it. Last year, the captain of the poker club joined the World Series of Poker. According to rumors, he won billions of dollars.

“I guess they were…” Nayeon answered uninterested. 

“Again, why are you acting like you did all the work?” Jeongyeon protested. “We almost lost a game because you were too careless.” 

“Things like that happen all the time. That’s why I brought you with me.”

Jeongyeon let out a sigh while shaking her head in frustration. Sometimes she wonders why she’s still friends with her. 

“But no wonder the room feels really exclusive. It’s the poker club’s room. I feel kind of bad for them. Doesn’t that mean they don’t have a club room?”

“Hmm, who knows...”

“Who knows? I think we should just return the room unnie.” Momo suggested. She felt a bit uneasy being in a room they basically stole. 

“No way am I going to return the club room! It’s their fault for agreeing to begin with. Besides, they’re the ones who started this.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Every year they always ask me to convince Jeongyeon to join the poker club. Apparently the poker club president knows that this girl is good with poker.” She pointed to Jeongyeon. “Of course I’ve always refused. But this time the timing was perfect, so I made a little negotiation with the poker club president.” 

“Woah, are you crazy? How did I just know this? So basically you decided to play a game of poker and put **_me_** as your bet? I can’t believe you unnie. What if we lost?” Jeongyeon rose from her couch in furry. 

“Don’t worry. I promised to myself that I wouldn’t let anyone have you. You’re mine. See? We won didn’t we? That’s also why I asked you to join.”

Jeongyeon threw herself back on the couch, looking away from Nayeon and resting her chin on her palm while quietly whispering to herself, _‘Who are you calling yours, idiot..’_

“I’m sure they’ll find a new place in no time. They have lots of money after all. Losing a small room like this won’t be a problem for them.”

Although the other members thought that Nayeon was too carefree about it, they agreed with her. For a club that competed internationally, they must have lots of money. There’s the rumor of the club president winning billions of dollars too.

Finally everyone settled down, except for Sana who was still thinking to herself in confusion _‘Isn’t gambling illegal?’_

“Anyways, more importantly,” Nayeon continued. “What should we do to get more members? I’m out of people to ask join the club, so we’ll have to ask other people to join. According to the rules, it’s fine to have members from either our university or high school.”

“High school students too?” Mina’s eyes lit up, as if she just heard something really important. 

“Uhum.” Nayeon nodded. 

"What about making flyers?" Jihyo suggested. It was the most common way for a club to gather members. She remembered back in high school, she used to help her friends gather members for their clubs even though she herself never joined a club. 

"Ah, that's a good idea!" Momo jolted in excitement. "I can make the flyer and poster designs!" Momo was clearly happy by the prospect of designing the club flyer and poster. Despite being a food and nutrition student, she's pretty passionate when it comes to drawing.

"OK, we'll have Momo make the flyers and posters!" 

"Eeh, Nayeon unnie, aren't you going to help me? It's going to be a loott of work doing it alone."

Nayeon stopped to think for a while. "Alright, I'll help you then!"

Hearing her answer, Momo gleefully made some random noises. 

While the others were busy with the discussion, Sana who was sitting next to Jihyo whispered quietly to her, "Jihyo, what skin care do you use?"

Suddenly asked an unexpected question, Jihyo was a bit flustered. Especially with Sana sitting so close to her. "A-ah, skin care? I usually use anything my mom gives me. I like drinking tomato juice too. I heard it’s good for the skin."

“Tomato juice? Really?”

Jihyo nodded confidently.

"Ehmm." Sana moved her face closer to Jihyo's. For a moment, Jihyo didn't realize that she was holding her breath and trying her best to control her heartbeat. With their distance getting closer, she could feel Sana’s breath on her. 

Their eyes meet and Sana sweetly smiles at Jihyo. "You really are pretty hihi." She then moved even closer, snuggling her. "You smell really nice too."

Jihyo's face was beat red because of embarrassment. It felt like her body was in a trance. _What's going on…?_

"S-Sana-chan?" Jihyo mustered all of her courage to say something for her to stop but she could only utter her name nervously. Sana slowly let go of her embrace and looked into Jihyo’s eyes once again, before she cheerfully answered, “Yes?”

Before Jihyo could reply, Nayeon called out to her not realizing what situation she was in at the moment. “Jihyo, can you come here? I need you to make the words for the flyers and poster. I’m too busy designing with Momo and Jeongyeon.” 

“Ah sure! I’m coming!” she happily replied.

Noticing the subtle change in Sana’s expression, Jihyo quickly offered Sana to come along with her. “Sana-chan, let’s do it together.” Hearing that, Sana’s face lit up once again and nodded.

Both of them ended up happily working on the flyers and posters together side by side. 

***

“Nayeon unnie, can I head back now? I need to study for tomorrow.” Jihyo asked after she quickly finished making a draft of the things to put on the flyer. She was used to making things like these when she was younger, so it didn’t take much time.

“Oh? Heading back already miss honor student?”

“I’m not naturally smart like you unnie,” Jihyo picked up her belongings and got ready to leave, ignoring Nayeon’s sarcastic comment. Despite her carefree character, Nayeon is actually top of her batch with an average GPA of 4. Because of that, she’s pretty well known around campus for not only having the beauty, but also the brains. 

“If Jihyo is leaving, can I go back too? I have a test tomorrow.” Mina raised her hand as if she were in class. Just like Jihyo, Nayeon gave Mina the ‘OK’ to leave for the day. She understood well that in TWICE university, the first week is pretty tough for the freshman.

Before the two girls left, they made sure to say goodbye to the other members. It felt a bit awkward leaving since they were the youngest among the other members, but they were sure that the other unnies would understand. 

“Bye Mina-chan, bye Jihyo! See you tomorrow~” Sana waved them goodbye, accompanied by the rest of the unnies. Both of them waved back before finally closing the door behind them. 

***

On their way back to the dorm, Jihyo noticed that Mina was still on her phone. Jihyo recalled that she’s been on her phone a lot today. A lot more than yesterday. 

"Who have you been texting Mina? Boyfriend?" asked Jihyo teasingly. With how pretty her friend was, it wouldn't be a surprise if she had a boyfriend from high school. In fact, it would be even more of a surprise if she didn't have someone. 

"B-boyfriend? N-No. It's nothing like that." Mina awkwardly answered. She was fidgeting as they were walking through one of the campus’ park. Noticing that Mina seemed to be hiding something from her, Jihyo playfully pressed on. 

"Are you sure? You always look happy when you text so I thought it might be your boyfriend."

"No I don't have a boyfriend, but…" Mina paused for a second. "Promise me you won't tell anyone."

"I promise, Mina."

Her eyes looked hesitant, but she finally continued. "I've been talking to this girl for a while… and I guess... I like her. But I haven't seen her yet. I'm planning on inviting her to the club." 

It was the first time Jihyo saw Mina smile like that, she just stared at Mina.

_Love really does make people prettier…_

"Anyway Jihyo, Sana unnie seems to like you a lot. She's usually really reserved with people she just met, so I was surprised to see her talk with you comfortably."

"Really?" Jihyo always assumed that it was just part of her character. After all, it did somehow fit her image. Mina nodded surely while adding, "I'll be rooting for you two." She put up her two cute fists in front of her, making the 'hwaiting' pose.

"F-for what?"

"Eh? Don't you like her too?"

"I don’t dislike her… but…" 

Mina waited for Jihyo's answer, but the girl with the answer continued with an anticlimactic ending, "Nothing." 

"That's not fair Jihyo!" 

Jihyo laughed at the annoyed Mina and started running away from her. In truth, Jihyo knew the answer but she was too afraid to admit it. There was no way she'd fall for someone at first sight. Jihyo strongly rejected those strange feelings in her chest.

_This must be a mistake._

  
  



End file.
